Cover assembly for a food container

ABSTRACT

A cover assembly for a food container providing separate compartments for different items. The cover assembly includes a lid and a dome that may be attached to the food container either together or separately. The lid and dome may also be removed from the food container as one unit, providing a unique storage container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/555,242; filed Mar. 22, 2004.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Food containers generally in the shape of a bucket have long been usedfor holding foods such as pieces of chicken, etc. While thisconfiguration for a container has enjoyed widespread popularity, typicalconfigurations for lids covering the opening in the container have anumber of disadvantages. First, the most common material used for a lidis paper, which often has the configuration of a rounded disk thatmerely sits down in the container and is sometimes not securely attachedthereto in any way; this kind of lid is hard to remove because it isdifficult to grab the lid and pull it upward out of the container, andfurthermore, may allow food to be spilled out of the container if suchcontainer is turned on its side. Additionally, it would be advantageousif other food items that may be sold by an eating establishment alongwith the food item typically sold in the bucket (e.g., biscuits or otherbread items sold with chicken) could be placed within the container forease in carrying the items. However, with a typical food bucket-typecontainer, there is no compartmentalization. Therefore, varying fooditems would have to be stored together, which is less than ideal becausemoisture from one food type may adversely affect the quality or appealof another food type.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a cover assembly for a food containerthat is unique in that it not only provides a secure covering for foodwithin the container, but also allows for compartmentalization toseparately store food items with the container. The assembly comprises alid and a dome, each of which have a base ring configured for attachmentto the container and for attachment with each other. By attaching thedome to the lid, and the lid and dome assembly—via the base ring of thelid—with a rim of the container, upper and lower containment orcompartment regions are formed in an integral food storage package. Forexample, chicken may be stored within the lower containment regionformed within the container below the lid, and bread items may be storedwithin the upper containment region formed above the container betweenthe lid and the dome, both being sealed off from one another by the lid.Both the lid and the dome may be formed with vents to allow moistureand/or excessive heat to escape the lower and upper containment regions,respectively. The configurable nature of the food storage package allowsfor removal of the lid and attachment of the dome alone to provide forextra storage for food items extending above the rim of the container.

The cover assembly provides a number of advantages, including: having abetter seal with the container than typical cover designs; venting toprevent foods within the container from getting soggy; providing a lidand dome combination that can be made transparent such that food itemswithin the upper and/or lower containment regions may be viewed withouthaving to remove a lid; compartmentalization for keeping food itemssegregated such that the moisture or other properties of each may notadversely affect the other; being easy to manufacture as the lid anddome may be molded with features thereof (e.g., vents, etc) preformedthereon without extra fabrication steps or attachment of separate parts;and removal of the lid and dome assembly from the container withoutseparating the two allows for the dome to be turned upside down andfunction as a serving bowl for the items within the upper containmentregion and constructing the lid/dome assembly of polypropylene so thatit may become a reusable food storage device which adds value to theentire package in the minds of the purchasing public. Furthermore,because the lid spans over the bucket opening, residual heat from thecontents in the lower containment region will provide a degree ofwarming conducted through the lid onto the contents in the uppercontainment region.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the several views of the drawing, there is shown inFIG. 1 a cover assembly 10 for a food container 100. The container 100may be any type of container with an open top, but the specificembodiments of the present invention shown are particularly well suitedfor use with the known “bucket” style of food container 100 that has acircular or oval upper rim 102 and is typically used for holding chickenor other foods. One container type is a paperboard container, but othertypes (polypropylene, etc.) may also be used with the present invention.

The cover assembly includes a lid 12 and a dome 14 designed to beremovably attached with one another. Preferably, both the lid 12 and thedome 14 are designed for removable attachment with the upper rim 102 ofthe container 100 as well. Thus, a lower containment region 104 isformed within the container 100 below the lid 12 when attachedtherewith, and an upper containment region 106 is formed between the lid12 and the dome 14 when the two are attached together.

As seen in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, where an exemplary #8 flat lidand a #6 flat lid, respectively, are provided, the lid 12 comprises abody section 16 that generally has a disk-like shape and a base ring 18formed at the periphery of the body section 16. The base ring 18 isformed of a raised channel 20 having an inner wall 22 extending upwardlyfrom the body section periphery and interconnected via a bend 24 with anouter wall 26 in opposing relation. A lower section of the outer wall 26has a curved bight portion 28 extending radially inward towards a centeraxis of the lid 12. Thus, the inner wall 22, bend 24, and outer wall 26form the channel 20 to fit over, and have an interference fit with, therim 102 of the container 100 such that the channel 20 and/or the rim 102may deform as the two are pushed together in a “snap” fit. Theinterference thus secures the lid 12 with the container 100 until it isdesired to remove the lid 12, whereupon the lid and container may bepulled apart with sufficient force to overcome the interference fit.

Alternately spaced circumferentially on the raised channel 20 with thebight portion 28 are vents 30. The vents 30 are formed of raised, angledwalls 32 extending upwardly from the bend 24 and outwardly from theouter wall 26 to form, when attached with the container rim 102, apathway between the interior of the container 100 (i.e., the lowercontainment region 104) and the environment 200 surrounding thecontainer. In this way, excess heat and moisture (or in the combinationthereof, steam) given off by food items may escape from the lowercontainment region 104. A flange 34 may also extend radially outwardfrom the raised channel 20 to provide a surface that can be grasped tomore easily pull the lid 12 off of the container 100.

FIG. 4 shows more detail of the dome 14. The dome 14 has a body section36 formed of a roof 38 and set of flat walls 40 extending downwardlyfrom the roof 38. A base ring 42 is formed at the lower periphery of thebody section 36 at the base of the walls 40. The base ring 42 iscomprised of a shoulder 44 and a skirt 46 extending downwardly from theshoulder. Formed on the skirt 46 are upper and lower circumferentiallips 48, 50 each extending radially inward to define an upper channel 52between the upper circumferential lip 48 and the shoulder 44, and alower channel 54 between the upper and lower circumferential lips 48,50. The upper channel 52 is thereby arranged to have an interference fitwith the rim 102 of the container 100 in the same way as the raisedchannel 20 of the lid 12, such that the dome 14 may be attached to thecontainer as shown in FIG. 5. Similarly, the lower channel 54 isarranged to have an interference fit with the raised channel 20 of thelid 12, more specifically with a portion of the outer wall 26 above thebight portion 28 such that the dome 14 may be attached with the lid 12,as shown in FIG. 6 where the lid 12 is also attached with the container100, to thereby form the lower and upper 104, 106 containment regions. Aflange 56 may also extend radially outward from the skirt 46 to providea surface that can be grasped to more easily pull the dome off of eitherthe lid 12 or the container 100. Preferably the base ring 42 and/or theflange 56 of the dome 14 are configured such that when the entire coverassembly 10 is in place on the container 100, an upward force applied tothe flange 56 will first remove the cover assembly 10 from the container100, and then while supporting the lid 12, a continued force applied tothe flange 56 will separate the dome 14 from the lid 12. This allows theassembly 10 to be removed as one unit when food items are held in theupper containment region 106, and then if desired, the assembly 10 maybe flipped over and the lid 12 removed from above to hold the food itemswithin the dome 14 serving as a bowl-type container.

Similar to the lid 12, the dome 14 has vents 58 alternately spacedcircumferentially on the base ring 42 with the upper and lowercircumferential lips 48, 50. The vents 56 are formed of raised walls 60extending upwardly from the shoulder 44 and outwardly from the skirt 46to form, when attached with the container rim 102, a pathway between thelower containment region 104 and the environment 200 surrounding thecontainer, or alternatively when attached with the raised channel 20 ofthe lid 12, a pathway between the upper containment region 106 and theenvironment 200. Preferably, the spacing of the vents 30, 58 around theperimeters of the lid 12 and the dome 14, respectively, are designed toalign the vents 30, 58. Thus, the vents 58 of the dome 14 are largerthan the vents 30 of the lid 12 to allow them to fit over one anotherand vent moisture from the respective containment regions when both aresimultaneously utilized with the container 100.

The cover assembly 10 and/or individual components thereof arepreferably formed of a synthetic material such as polypropylene,polyethylene or other material having similar mechanical properties,such as being lightweight and pliable. More preferably, at least thebase ring 18 of the lid 12 and the base ring 42 of the dome 14 areformed of polypropylene, because the pliable nature thereof provides agood seal between the lid 12 and the container 100, and the dome 14 andthe lid 12 and/or the container 100, thus keeping food items securelywithin the lower and upper containment regions 104, 106. Furthermore,the lid 12 and dome 14, in one embodiment, are transparent to enableviewing within the lower containment region 104 and/or the uppercontainment region 106.

Thus, the present invention provides for a cover assembly 10 for a foodcontainer 100 that is multi-functional to provide for food storage invarious compartments using a common type of food container, and canserve as a separate container all its own.

1. A cover assembly for a food container having a rim defining acontainer opening, the cover comprising: a lid having a base ringadapted to mate with the container rim for removable attachmenttherewith; and a dome having a base ring adapted to mate with at leastone of the container rim and the base ring of the lid for removableattachment therewith.
 2. The cover assembly of claim 1, wherein at leastthe base ring of the lid and the base ring of the dome are formed ofpolypropylene.
 3. The cover assembly of claim 1, wherein the dome has atleast one vent formed in the base ring thereof such that when the domeis attached with the container, a pathway is formed from an interior ofthe container to the environment surrounding the container.
 4. The coverassembly of claim 1, wherein the lid has at least one vent formed in thebase ring thereof such that when the lid is attached with the container,a pathway is formed from an interior of the container to the environmentsurrounding the container.
 5. The cover assembly of claim 4, wherein thelid further comprises a body section peripherally bounded by the basering, and wherein the base ring comprises: a raised channel definedbetween an inner wall and an outer wall thereof, the inner wallextending from the body section and interconnected with an outer wallhaving a bight portion extending radially inward such that aninterference fit is formed when the rim of the container is insertedinto the raised channel to thereby accomplish removable attachment ofthe lid with the container.
 6. The cover assembly of claim 5, whereinthe at least one vent comprises a series of vents formed into the raisedchannel and alternatingly positioned on the outer wall with the bightportion.
 7. The cover assembly of claim 5, wherein the dome furthercomprises a body section peripherally bounded by the base flag, andwherein the base ring comprises: a shoulder extending from the bodysection; a skirt extending downwardly from the shoulder section, theskirt including an upper circumferential lip extending radially inwardto define an upper channel between the upper circumferential lip and theshoulder, and a lower circumferential lip extending radially inward todefine a lower channel between the upper and lower circumferential lips,wherein an interference fit is formed when the rim of the container isinserted into the upper channel of the dome to thereby accomplishremovable attachment of the dome with the container, and wherein aninterference fit is formed when the raised channel of the lid isinserted into the lower channel of the dome to thereby accomplishremovable attachment of the dome with the lid.
 8. The cover assembly ofclaim 7, wherein attachment of the dome with the lid forms an uppercontainment region between the dome and the lid and attachment of thelid with the container forms a lower containment region between the lidand the container, and wherein a series of vents are formed into thedome skirt to form a pathway from the upper containment region to theenvironment surrounding the container when the dome is attached with thelid, and from the lower containment region to the environmentsurrounding the container when the dome is attached with the container.9. A cover for a disposable paperboard food container wherein saidcontainer has a rim defining a container opening, the cover comprising:a plastic dome having a base adapted to mate with said container rim;and at least one vent formed in the base of said dome such that when thedome is attached with the container, a pathway is formed from theinterior of the container to the environment surrounding the container.